Elevator dispatching system



Jan. 2, 1934. E. M. BOUTON ETl' AL ELEVATOR DISPATCHING SYSTEM Filed May 3, 1928 6 R O T N E V N EO/QQFMBOU7LOK) 0%FF0/7KE Lew/l9.

ATTORNEY Patented jan. 2, i934 PATENT OFFICE 1,942,236 ELEVATOR DISPATCHING SYSTEM Edgar M. Bouton, Chicago, Ill., and Frank E.

Lewis, East Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application ay a, 1928. Serial No. 274,702

' 3 Claims.

Our invention relates to dispatching systems for vehicles, and it hasparticular relation'to systems for dispatching elevators, hoists and similar devices. i

. The object of our invention, generally stated, is the provision of, a dispatching system'that shall ,be, simple andefiicient in operation and adapted for ready and economical installation.

A more specific object of our invention is to providea dispatching system for a number of vehiclesoperable over parallel pathways between two fixed terminals whereby the vehicles will be started in predetermined succession from the terminals at regular intervals of time.

It is also an object of our inventionto-reduce the number of stops to be made by any one of a number of vehicles; when that vehicle falls be In dispatching systems of the type employed to schedule, the operations of a bank of ele-' vators, it is customary to provide. a signal which shall indicate to the attendant on each of the cars the time at whichhis: car. is ischeduledto comprisea timing device which produces a signal on each of the severalcars at. successive equalintervals of time, .to insure that a car will leave, the terminalfioorat such intervals, and 40 thus tend to keep the "cars evenly spaced in the hatchway.

This type of dispatching system. is not wholly satisfactoryfor the reason that it frequently happensithatxone'car.may'be required to make a large-number of stops in'making a trip, while the following car makes very few stops, whereby the leading car arrives at the terminal later than prescribed. by the schedule andmust be immediately started on a new trip, without waiting to take on passengers at the terminal or else th'e'scheduling of 'cars 'isdefeated.

Our invention overcomes this objectionable feature in that the dispatching. system is con-' nected to, the signal system in such manner as'to withhold certain stop signals from such cars as leave the terminal floor. These systemsusually fall behind their predetermined schedules, and thus permit them to recover their proper positions'in relation'to the other cars in the system.

In this way, any car which, because of traffic conditions, is delayed in its movement toward the terminal is allowed to run as an express car to the terminal floor, in order that it mayarrive in time to depart more nearly on its regular schedule. Y

Referring to the drawing, our dispatcher sys- 5 term is illustrated as comprising a constant-speed motor M, preferably of the shunt-wound type, having a variable rheostat R in circuit with'its shunt field winding MF and having its armature M suitably coupled, through reduction gearing, to a pair of contact discs 1 and 2. The contact disc 1; hereinafter referred to as the up disc, comprises a contact member 3 arranged on the periphery of the disc and suitably insulated from the driving shaft 4 that connects the disc to the armature M. The particular construction of this contact disc 1 is not material, since any form of contactor which will produce an impulse of electric current once in each revolution of the driving shaft 4 will be sufilcient for the purpose 30 of our invention. The contact disc 2, hereinafter referred to as a down contact disc, comprises a suitable contact member 5 insulatingly supported by a sleeve 6 mounted upon the shaft 4 and fixed thereto by means of a suitable thumb screw 7, thus providing for adjustment of the relative angularpositions of the contact members 3 and 5'. The purpose of this adjustment will be described hereinafter. The contact member 3 cooperates with a suitable stationary contact member 8 for completing a circuit through the contact member and thereby producing an impulse of electric current by operation of the disc 2 each time the shaft 4 makes a complete revolution.

The impulses of electric current are utilized for operating dispatching signals to indicate the'time schedule under which the cars should operate in amanner hereinafter described.

The three elevator cars illustrated in the drawing are designated by the characters A, B and C, respectively. The car A is provided with the usual controlling mechanism (not shown), for moving the car upwardly and downwardly in itsshaft and is also provided with a contact device of the'fioor-selector type movable in correspondence to the movements of the car. This contact device may be similar to that described in the patent to Smalley, et al, No. 634,220. The contact device illustrated comprises a continuous contact strip 10, the length of which is'representative of the distance between the upper and the lower terminal floors. Adjacent to the lower end of the contact strip 10 is a short contact strip 11, and adjacent to the upper end is a short contact strip 12. The relative positioning of the contact strips 11 and 12 with respect to the contact strip 10 is such that a movable contact bridge 13, operable over the contact strip 10 as the car moves between the lower terminal and the upper terminal, will bridge the contact strips 10 and 11 when the car is at the first floor and the contact strips 10 and 12 when the car is at the top floor. The contact strip 11 is connected in circuit with a relay A--l4, while the contact segment 12 is connected in circuit with a relay A--15.

A suitable dispatching signal A-l6 is mounted on the elevator car A, for operation by the impulses of electric current produced by the dispatching system to indicate the schedule on which the car should operate. Suitable floor lanterns, such as are usually provided in elevator systems at the upper and lower terminal floors,

are designated, respectively, as A 17 and Al8..

The elevators are also provided with a signal system in which a flash signal lamp 19 is dis posed on each of the cars for indicating to the operator when a stop is to be made for taking on' or discharging passengers.

In order that the passengers, when waiting at a floor landing, may operate the signal lamps 19 to give the attendants on the cars a stop signal, a pair of passenger-operated push buttons is mounted at each of the landings intermediate the terminal floors, one for up travel and one for down travel. The up and the down buttons for the second floor are respectively designated as 2U and 2D, while those for the third floor are designated as 3U and 3D.

Associated with the push buttons are pushbutton relays ZUR, 2BR, 3UR and 3DR, respectively, for holding the push button signals until they are answered. The coils of the push-button relays are connected respectivelyto corresponding hatchway-door contact members 2HU and ZHD, 3HU and 3I-ID in such manner that therelays will be reset when the push-button calls are answered by the operators.

For the purpose of enabling the attendant in each car to set the signal-giving device 19 in his car to indicate stops to let passengers get off, the car A is provided with car push buttons A2, A3 and A4, the car B with push buttons B2, B3 and B4, and the car C with push buttons C2, C3 and C4. Associated with the car push buttons are push-button relays AR2, AR3, AR4, BR2, BB3, BRA, CR2, CR3 and CR4, respectively, for holding the car push-button signals until they are answered by the attendant.

In order that the various circuits for the passenger-operated push buttons, the car push buttons and the signal lamps in the cars may be connected in accordance with the positions of the cars, the cars A, B and C are provided, re-

spectively, with floor selectors FSA, FSBand FSC.

" The floorselectors are similar to those usually both brushes being mounted on a movable arm MA which traverses the contact segments. The selector FSB for car B is provided with up contact segments which are arranged in a group under an up brush BU, and down contact segments which are arranged in a group under a down brush BD, both brushes being mounted on a movable arm MB. Similarly, the selector PS0 for car'C is provided with up contact segments which are mounted in a group under an up brush CU and down contact segments which are mounted in a group under a down brush CD, both brushes being mounted on a movable arm MC.

The movable arm of each selector is operated by' a screw S which is driven by some part of the operating mechanism of the car which the selector serves.

The frictional engagement between the arms and their operating screws causes the arms to bear upon the up contact segments when the cars are travelling upward and upon the down contact segments when the cars are moving down.

Inasmuch as-sig'nalling systems and floor selec-' tors therefor are old and well known in the art, we have, for the sake of simplicity, illustrated the passenger-operated signals only in connection with the second and third floors and the car push buttons only in connection with second, third andfourth floors.

In accordance with our invention, the dispatching system and the signalling system are connected in order that the'dispatching system may control the operation of the signal system in such manner that some or all of the passenger-operated stop signals will be withheld from .anycar that is behind its schedule and no car is at the starting terminal at the time forthe dispatching signal, thereby permitting the behind schedule carto run as an express carto its terminal floor. As shown, this is accomplishedin the present instance by placing a relay D5, which is controlled by the dispatching system, in position to temporarily prevent the completion of the circuit between the signal lamps 19 in the cars and the 1 passenger-operatedpush buttons 3D and 2D for down stopsat the third and second floors when one of the cars gets behind its schedule and no car is at the starting terminal at the time for Our system is best described with reference to an assumed operation. Assumingthat the elevator car A is starting down from the top of the shaft, and that a waiting passenger at the second floor presses push button 2D to register a stop signal for that floor, then a circuit will be partially completed for the signal lamps A 19, B'l9 and Cl9 in the cars A, B, and C. The pressing of the push button 2D completes a circuit for the push-button relay 2DR from supply conductor L2 through conductors 20'and 2 1, the contact members of push button 2D, conductor 22, the coil of relay 2DR, conductor 23,.hatchway-door contact members 2HD, and conductor 24 .to supply conductor L1. A self-holding circuit for the push-button relay 2DR is established from supply conductor L2 through conductors 20 and 25,.the contact members a of push-button relay.2DR, conductor 26, the coil of push-button relay 2DR, conductor 23, hatchway-door contact members 21-11) and conductor 24 to supply conductor Ll.

As thecarA descends and approaches the second floor landing, the brush AD bridges the contact segment 2'7 and thecontact strip 28, thereby 5 lighting the signal lamp A- 19 in the car A to indicate that the car switch A,59 should be centered for stopping the car. The completed circuit for the signal lamp A19 extends from supplyconductor L2 through conductors 2 0, 25,:

As the carA completes the stop for the second floor and approaches the terminal floor, it will cause the brush A 13 to bridge the contact strips A10 and All to complete a circuit for energizing the relay A--14, which circuit extends from line conductor L1 through conductors 40 and 41, a single-pole switch 42, conductor 43, contact strip A10, contact brush Al3, contact strip A -ll, conductor 44, the coil of relay A14, con- 1 ductor 45, the normally closed contact members a. of relay A 46, conductor 4'7, the normally closed contact members b of relay C46 (corresponding to the relay A46) conductor 48, the normally closed contact members b of relay 13-46,

": conductor 49, the normally closed contact members b of relay A 46 and conductors 50 and 20 to supply conductor L2. The relay A14 then closes its contact members I), completing a circuit for energizing the relay A46 which circuit ex- 7 tends from supply conductor Ll through conductors 51 and 52, the coil of relay A-46, conductor 53, the contact members b of relay A-14, conductors -54 and 20 to supply conductor L1. The actuation of the relay A 46 opens its contact members a and b, thereby breaking the normal circuit for the relay A- -l4. However, relay A-l-l4 closes its contact members a to complete a shunt around the contact members of the relay A-46, B46 and C-46 by way ofconductor -45, contact members a of relay Al4 and conductors 55'and 20. Thus, as long as the car remains at the lower terminal 'floor, the relays A 14' and A 46 will remain energized. I Assuming also that the car C left the lower terminal when the car A left the upper terminal and that the car B leaves the lower terminal just as car A arrives, then the relay A-14 will complete a circuit for thefioor lamp -A18 for the first floor to indicate that car A is the first car to start an up trip. This circuit extendsfrom supe 'ply conductor L2, through conductors 20 and 56, the contact members 0 of the relayA-14, conductor 5'7, floor lamp A18, and conductors 58 and 36 to supply conductor L1.

'the first floor, the dispatching contact member 3 has been moved by, the motor.M through engagement with the contact member 8, completing a circuit for the dispatching signal A16 in the i elevator car A. This circuit extends from supply conductorLz through conductors 61 and 62 to the motor shaft 4, contact members 3 and 8, conductors 63, 64 and 65, contact'members d of relay A--14, conductor 66, dispatching signal lamp A -lfi and conductors 35 and 36 to supply conductor Ll.

vator car A on its up trip,

Assuming that car A has taken on a number ofpassengers at the lower terminal floor who desire to get off at the third floor, asthe passengers call their stop, the attendant presses the car push button A B to so set thesignalling system that it will indicate, as thecar nears the third floor, that a stop should be made at that floor.

' The pressing of the car push button A 3 completes a circuit for the car-push-button relay AR3 from supply conductor L2,'through conductors 20, and '71, the contact members of push button A3, conductor 72, the coil of therelay AR -3, the normally closed hatchway-door contact members 73, and conductors 74, and 36 to-supply conductor Ll. A self-holdingcircuit for the relay A R 3 is established from supply conductor L2, through conductors 20, '76 and 7'7, contact members a of relay AB.--3, hatchway door contact members 73 and conductors '74, 75 and 36 to supply conductor L1. 1 a 1 -The pressing of e the car push button A3 also partially completes a circuit for the signal,

lamp "A'19 in the can. the car A ascends and approaches the third floor landing, the brush AU bridges the contact segment and the contact strip 81, thereby lighting the signal lamp A-19 in the car to indicate that the car switch A-59 should be centered for stoppingthe car; The completed circuit for the signallamp Al9 extends from supply conductor L2 through conductors 20, 76 and 82, contact members b of re-v lay AR3, conductor 83, contact segment 80,

The attendant on the car will now move the car switch A -59 to start the elea brush AU, contact strip 81, conductor33, signal lamp Al9 and conductors 34, 35 and 36 to sup ply conductor L1. I

When the car A makes the stop at the third floor, the opening of the hatchway-door contact members 73 opens the holding circuitwfor the car-push-button relay AR..3.

Assuming that the elevator car B arrives at the lower terminal immediately after car A'leaves, an operation similar tothat described with reference 'to the elevator car A will be, effected for operating the floor lamp B-18, and the dispatching signal B16 will be lighted upon the next engagement of the contact members 3 and 8 as the motor shaft .4 makes its next complete revolution. Similarly, the-elevator car C will be dispatched from the lower terminal upon the third revolution of the motor shaft 4.

The time between the successiveoperation of the dispatching signals for-the cars maybe varied by movement of the rheostat R, therebyincreasing or decreasing the resistance in circuit with the motor'field winding MF, thus permitting theenergizing relays A-l5 and A85 to cause'the Assume that after. the arrival of the car A at A -16 cannot be, energized unless either relay A-'14 or relayA-15 is in circuit-closing position.

In this manner, only thed'ispatching system for that car which is at the terminalmay beoperated.

Assume that, prior to the departure of elevatorcar A'frorii the first floor, the elevator car B arrives at that floor, then the movable :contact member B '13 associated with the car B will bridge the contact strips B and B--11-to complete a-circuit for the relay B- 14. However, the circuit for the relay B l'4 extends through the normally closed contact members b of relay A-'-46 by way of a circuit which extends from supply conductor-'L1*= through conductors 40- and 86, switch 87', conductor 88, contact stripB- lO, contact member B13, contact strip B'11, conductor 89, the coil of relay B- 14,- conductor-90, the normally'closedcontact member, a'of relay B'-46,"conductors-91 and $7, the normally closed contact members b of relay C 46, conductor 48, normally closed contact membersb of relay B-46, conductor 49, contact members I) of relay A46 and conductors 50'and 20 to supply conductorLZ. However, itis apparent that, solong as car A remains at the first floor and has its relay A'46 energized, the relays B-14 and 'B46 will be ineffective/and, therefore, that thefloorlamp B18 will not be illuminated until the car A leaves.

As-the car A' leaves the first vfloor and places car B incondition tobe the next car to leave the floor, the deenergization of relay A46 permits the'cont'act members B-10 and 13 11 to complete a circuit for the relay B-M and relay B--46. The relay B--14 closes itscontact members 0; energizing the floor lamp B 18. The dispatching signal -is tra'nsmitted thereafter to the car B,- as previously described.

Whennocar is standing at the-lower terminal to receive the dispatching signal at the'time'thecontact member 3 moves into engagement" with the contact member 8, the signal will be registered or stored up by a relay 100 and maintained until such time as a car arrives at the floor. The registering relay 100 is'provided at the dispatching station or in any other suitable location and has its coil connected 'in*circuit with the contact members3 and8 and withthe contact members of a second relay 1'01. Therelay 101 is energized at all times'when no cars are at the lower ter-" minal floor by way of a circuit which. extends from supply conductor L1 through conductors 102 and 103 the coil of relay 101, the conductors 104 and 47 andthence, in series, through the normal.- ly closed contact members b of relays A46, B46 and C46 to supply conductor L2, as previously traced for these contact members.

The relay 101 prepares a circuit for the coil of the registering relay 100, which circuit is completed by the engagement of the contact members 8- and 3. This circuit extends from supply con-- ductor L1 through conductors 102 and-105, the contact members of coil 101, conduct-or 106, the coil of relay 100, conductors 107 and 63, contact members -8 and 3;and conductors 62: and 61to' supply conductor L2. The relay 100, when ener-- eating that it is to depart immediately ohits next upward trip. v i r Y The relays 110 and 111 operate in a similar manner to perform the same function for the down i dispatching system when there are no cars at the upper terminal floor.- t

Any one of the cars A, B and C may be removed fromthe automatic dispatching system by opening the switch associated with that car, these switches being designated as 42, 87 and112.

While the dispatching system is illustrated as being automatic; it is obvious that a manual production of the starting or dispatching impulses might be achieved by providing dispatching buttons for the elevator captain or starter to be operated at will. Such buttonsare shown and designated as 113 and 114 for the up and'down directions, respectively.

- he interval of time'elap'sing between the iving of the dispatching signal for any car to s artits up trip and to start its down trip may be varied within desired periods by a suitable adjustment of the contact disc 2 with reference to the contact disc 1. I

The series of push buttons 115, 116 and 117 are associated with the elevator cars A, B and'C, respectively, for the purpose of permitting the captain or starter to flash the dispatching signal on the associated elevator car when he desires to call that car to one of the terminal floors for some special service.

Assume again, for example, that the dispatching contact member 3 is moved through engagement with the contact member 8 at a time when there is no car standing at the lower terminal floor to receive the dispatching signal, (which condition only occurs when one of the cars is delayed in its passage between terminals) and that the car which, if on time, would be scheduled to leave next is behind its schedule and is still a considerable number of floors above the first floor. Under these conditions, the relay 100 closes to register and maintain the dispatching signal. The closing of the relay 100 also completes a circuit for energizing the relay DS to withhold -down stop calls for the second and third floors fromthe next car to approach the terminal floor, and thereby permit that car to run as an express car to the lower floor and restore the system to" its schedule. The completed circuit for the relay DS extends from supply conductor L1 through conductors 24 and 120, the coil of relay DS, con ductor 121,'contact members b of relay 100, conductors 122,109 and 20, to supply conductor L2. When the relay DS is energized, it opens its'contact members a and b in the circuits between the down call buttons 3D and 2D and the signal lights A-19, B--19 and. C19 in the cars A, B and C and thereby prevents the completion of the circuits for the down signalsuntil the relay 100 is deenergized by the arrival of a car at the terminal.

Assuming that car A is run as an express car to the lower terminal under these conditions, its arrival causes the brush A-13 to bridge the contact strips A10 and A11 thereby lighting the signal lamp Al6 and resetting the registering relay 100 as hereinbefore described. The resetting of the relay 100 opens its contact members I) and deenergizes the relay D8 which then closes its contact members a and b and restores the circuits for the passenger-operated push buttons 2D and 3D and the stop signal lamps A19, B19 and C19in the cars.

It will, thereforeybe' seen that we have provided a dispatching system in which at any time a car falls behind its proper running position with reference to the other cars in the system the first car to approach the terminal thereafter is enabled to run as an express car to the terminal, thus assuring that a car will leave the terminal more nearly on time than if all cars were permitted to continue to make stops prior to reaching the terminal floor.

It will be observed, however, that the dispatching system is permitted to cut off only those signals operated by passengers waiting at a floor, since it is not desirable to cut oil? signals indicating that passengers in the car desire to leave at the corresponding floors. For this reason, the

' car signal buttons A2 and A3, when operated,

remain effective regardless of whether the car is on time or behind its schedule.

While we have illustrated our invention as applied to a dispatching system similar to that set forth in application Serial No. 215,392, filed August 25, 1927, and assigned to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, it will be understood that theinvention may be readily adapted for use with any other form of dispatching system.

The embodiment of our invention described is merely illustrative and is susceptible of many changes and substitutions in the arrangement of the apparatus described. Therefore, we do not desire to be limited to the details shown except as defined in the appended claims. i

We claim as our invention:

1. In a dispatching system for a bank of elevator cars, means for registering a dispatching signal indicating that a car should be prepared to start a trip from a dispatching floor, means for each of said cars for receiving said signal, means disposed outside of said cars for registering a stop signal for said cars, and means operable by failure of a car to be in position to start such a trip for preventing the reception of said stop signal by the cars closely approaching the dispatching floor until one of said cars is placed in starting position.

2. In a dispatching system for a bank of elevator cars operating from a dispatching terminal, means for registering a dispatching signal for said cars indicating that a car should be prepared to start a trip, means for each of said cars for receiving said dispatching signal, means disposed outside of said cars for registering a stop signal for said cars, and means operable by failure of a car to be in position to start such a trip for preventing the reception of said stop signal by such of said cars as are approaching the terminal until the arrival of one of said cars at said terminal.

3. In a dispatching system for a bank of elevator cars operating from a dispatching floor, means for giving a dispatching signal to indicate when a car should leave on a trip from the dispatching floor, means disposed outside of said cars for registering a stop signal for said cars, and means operable by failure of a car to be in position to start such a trip for preventing the reception of said stop signal by such of said cars as are approaching the dispatching floor until the arrival of one of said cars at said dispatching floor.

EDGAR M. BOUTON. FRANK E. LEWIS. 

